1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to user controlled selection and filtration of broadcast information for viewing and in particular to user selection of serially broadcast information which repeatedly cycles. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to employing meta frames allowing a user to select and filter frames from a series of frames which are serially broadcast in a continuous cycle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Contemporary real-time dissemination of information to large numbers of recipients generally occurs through radio and television broadcasts. The content and timing of the information is typically at the discretion of the broadcaster, with the recipients only having the option of selecting a particular channel. With the advent of “Webcasting,” or broadcasting real-time on the Internet, and particularly with the increase of wireless devices, such a handheld organizers and mobile telephones, which are capable of providing mobile access to the Internet, user selection and/or filtration of the broadcast information received and presented to the user in a manner not requiring the use of “channels”—either real (e.g., frequency-based) or virtual (e.g., different addresses) channels—is necessary in light of market demands for user control over selection of the content which the user views.
Excluding, momentarily, broadcast of information intended purely for entertainment, a variety of circumstances arise where dissemination of information to a broad range of users would benefit from user filtration of received data. For example, a user entering a grocery store with a handheld device may receive, from a localized transmitter operated by the store, information regarding the store and the items which the grocery store sells. The broadcast information may be, for instance, the content of the grocery store's Web site, the pages of which are repeatedly, serially broadcast. The pages may include, for example, a page providing search capabilities on the shelf location, price, and nutritional information of items which the store sells. The user may wish to view only that search page in order to retrieve data relevant to item(s) in which she is interested, or only information regarding a specified list of items and any special discounts which the grocery store may currently offer.
The data received by the handheld device in this example is in an architected format readily retrievable for consumption by the user in a preferred form (e.g., display, audio playback, etc.). However, wireless handheld devices currently introduce a number of limitations which must be overcome, including: capability to receive only low-bandwidth transmissions; limited storage; varying capabilities among devices (Palm Pilot, Win CE, etc.); and low processor speed. Additionally, broadcast of information to multiple recipients over shared transmission media does not generally permit customization of broadcast content to individual users or communication of requests from the user(s) to the broadcast device.
It would be desirable, therefore, to enable a user to select from information serially broadcast in continuous cycles for viewing.